A loud thunk and a chain of profanity announced the arrival of Tonks upstairs, and her all too frequent encounter with the umbrella stand. Molly's face took on a look of horror at the sound. already her hair was on end from the heat of numerous pots and pans simmering in the kitchen, and from her pushing it out of her face as she flicked, swooped and waved her wand incessantly to keep the cooking going smoothly. A rag was busy washing dishes and goblets in a sink of soapy water, unaided by any hands but Molly would periodically swish her wand at it wordlessly, emptying the dirty water and filling it again. On the table the bread was being buttered by a floating knife, and a bowl of salad was being tossed and shaken by some invisible force.

"Arthur!"

A faint thud was heard over the clanking and bubbling in the kitchen as Arthur raised his head out of the cupboard he was half immersed in, bumping it on the way up. He had been under there for at least an hour, attempting to fix a plumbing issue - by muggle means of course.

"Yes, dear?"

Molly pointed up the stairs, wooden spoon in hand. "Go and stop Tonks from coming down here, please! She'll want to help me, Merlin bless her, but that's the least I could do with right now!" Tonks was not renowned for her domestic magic. Molly had visions of pots of vegetables spilling onto the floor, smashed plates, and goodness knows what else. "Fred and George have already been driving me spare with their apparating. Send her in to help Remus in the sitting room, or something. Just not here!"

When Arthur intercepted Tonks, she was just beginning to descend the steps to the kitchen.

"Wotcher, Arthur! Just popping in for half an hour I'm afraid, got a night shift at the Ministry. Is Molly downstairs? I'll tell her I'm not stopping for dinner, give her a hand..."

"Oh no, no! Molly's got it all in hand, Tonks! To tell the truth it's a little busy down there right now...I'll tell Molly, shall I? Perhaps go and see Remus, he's cleaning up the sitting room."

When Tonks pushed open the heavy door to the sitting room, Remus did not immediately notice her. A number of rags were attached windows and cupboards around the room, rubbing polished circles into the dust. Remus half leaned against - half sat against the back of a rigid, ornate sofa in the centre of the room, his back to the door, head crooked down looking at something. His arms were folded across his torso and sticking out to the left side Tonks could see he was holding his wand, absentmindedly waving it in a circular motion to control the polishing.

He startled slightly at Tonks' greeting, but as he turned, he gave her a warm smile. "I didn't think we'd be seeing you tonight."

"Just popping in to say hello." She advanced the sofa and plonked herself down upon it. Remus leaned over the back of it, arms hanging next to her. His wand no longer held the rags up and they had dropped to the floor, and in his other hand was a book, one slender finger marking the page. Tonks plucked it out of his grasp.

"Poisonous Roots and Tubers by Ferriwick Cappt." She quirked her eyebrow up at him. "I didn't have you down as a herbology man."

"It's basically the only book in this place that isn't directly related to dark magic, or pureblood families, or inventive ways to keep your house elf in line, or -"

"Okay, I get it!" Tonks laughed. Remus hand been counted the various horrible subjects on his fingers and she shoved the book back into his hand to stop him. "This job that boring that you have to resort to the lesser of evils books to keep you occupied, then?

"Something like that," he grinned. "I did have Sirius for company for a while but then he went to feed Buckbeak. That was about an hour ago, and I'm starting to think he just didn't want to do the dusting. Am I mad?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he can. Who could bear to miss out on this?" Tonks jumped up. "You're being far too patient with it, though. I know a spell that could just get rid of the dust like that." She snapped her fingers as she said it, and Remus thought he noticed her hair - shoulder length and violet today - get momentarily brighter.

"Oh...I really don't mind doing it this way. It passes the time..." Tonks was already digging her wand out of her boot and Remus carried on his placation hurriedly. There was no doubting that Tonks was a powerful and skilful witch, but her domestic spells, quite frankly, were a danger to people's health.

"Don't be silly, just let me..." She back up a few paces, aimed her wand at the cupboard behind Remus and muttered a couple of words. There was bright white flash and whoosh of air that lifted Remus' hair and he stepped backwards as it whizzed past his body. There was silence as the light cleared, and Tonks' hand flew to cover her mouth. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Remus and he looked in shock down at his torso.

The silence was broken when Tonks could not hold in her laughter anymore. As much as she tried to stifle it, it bubbled up through her covered mouth and before long she was supporting herself on the arm of the sofa, clutching her stomach as she almost doubled over with giggles.

"I'm ...so - sorry..." She managed to sputter between laughs and gasps for air. Eventually she managed to master herself enough to stand and look at him properly. She wiped some stray tears from her eyes. "I really don't know how that happened."

Remus stared at her in amazement and shook his head, but the slight quirk at the side of his lips betrayed his amusement. He looked down at his jumper, pulling the fabric down as much as he could which wasn't very far, as it was now what could only be called a crop top. Threads of blue wool dangled like little tassels where they have been abruptly singed off and tendrils of smoke drifted up from it towards the ceiling.

"I think I'll stick to the rags in future." He smirked, stretching the jumper with difficulty over his exposed midriff.

Tonks bit her lip, to prevent more giggles from bursting forth. "I can fix it for you if you li-"

"I think I'll just go and put another one on. It was old anyway." He left the room quickly, before she could insist on performing another spell. Inspecting the surface of the cupboard where he had stood, Tonks saw that it now gleamed in the dim light of the room. Well, at least the spell had achieved what it had meant to...with a little added extra.

"A little less strength next time, maybe." Tonks said, swiping her fingertip across the shining wood. She caught a glance of the time on her watch and swore. Snatching leapt over the back of the sofa and snatched up her wand where she had dropped it in her fits of laughter. Running out the door and down the hallway, she stooped to pick up her bag and proceeded to the front door. Remus was just coming down the stairs again, rolling up the sleeves of a grey jumper this time.

"Off so soon?"

"Shift at the Ministry - I'll make it up to you, promise!" She grinned sheepishly before darting out of the door.